Bolivia

June 24, 2017 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Dawn News — This is the final statement of the
World Conference of the Peoples For a World Without Borders towards
Universal Citizenship, which took place at Tiquipaya, 400 kilometers
from La Paz between June 19-20:

Extracts of vive-president Garcia Linera's address at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires (May, 27, 2016).

September 9, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Open Democracy — We are facing a historical turning point in Latin America. Some are talking about a throwback, about restorers moving forward. The truth is that in the last twelve months, after ten years of intense progress, of territorial diffusion of the progressive and revolutionary governments in the continent, this progress has stalled, in some cases it has given ground, and in some other cases its continuity is in doubt. Wherever conservative forces have succeeded, an accelerated process of reconstitution of the old elites of the 80s and 90s, which seek to take control of the management of the state, is under way.

September 8, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Life on the Left with permission — The global drop in commodity prices has been detrimental to the development strategy of many Latin American governments, some of which had used the new income from increased exports of largely unprocessed resources, accompanied by higher royalties and taxes, during the last decade to reduce poverty levels and reinforce and institute new social programs, while attempting to create new industries oriented to the domestic market or adding value to their exports.

August 31, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewaloriginally published in Spanish at Nueva Sociedad — The conflict between the Bolivian government and cooperative miners is new not in terms of its dynamic, but in terms of its scale: the brutal death of a vice-minister, beaten after being kidnapped, has cause a commotion in a country accustomed to radical social protests. Moreover, the crime has put in doubt the advances made towards creating a “strong state”, Evo Morales goal since 2006: not even during the 2003 Gas War, which brought down the Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada government, has a similar type of aggression occurred against such a high level functionary.

By Alfredo Rada Vélez, Bolivian vice-minister for coordination with social movements

March 17, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal translated from La Razon by Sean Seymour-Jones -- Let’s start with the positives. On February 21, rural voters stood firm in their support for [Bolivian president] Evo Morales. I’m talking about the rural communities of La Paz, Oruro, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Potosí, as well as the bastions of San Julián and Yapacaní in Santa Cruz, and various provinces in Pando, Beni and Tarija. The Yes vote also triumphed overwhelmingly in Huanuni, Colquiri and San Cristóbal, home of the strongest miners unions. The vote of factory and construction workers, the largest proletarian components of the COB [Bolivian Workers Central], was felt in the working class neighbourhoods of La Paz, in the most populated districts of El Alto, as well as in Vinto, Quillacollo in the plebian zone in the south of the city of Cochabamba, and in the barrios and in Plan Tres Mil in the city of Santa Cruz. The vote of other urban neighbourhood sectors was particularly important in El Alto, La Paz, Cochabamba and Oruro. In other word, the indigenous-working class-popular base of the process of change continues to back Evo, as this was the main class composition of the support received.

Protest by Indigenous Women against Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa in August last year

.
by Claudio Katz, introduction and translation by Richard Fidler
February 5, 2016 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Life on the Left with permission — In this ambitious and compelling overview of the strategic and programmatic issues at stake in South America today, Argentine political economist Claudio Katz expands on many of the observations he made in an earlier interview while critically analyzing contrasting approaches to development that are being pursued or proposed. Translation from the Spanish and endnotes are by me. – Richard Fidler
Summary

January 2016 — Monthly Review, reposted on Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author's permission — In recent years a major debate has emerged over the role that new social movements should adopt in relation to the progressive governments that have inspired hope in many Latin American nations. Before addressing this subject directly, though, I want to develop a few ideas.

The situation in the 1980s and ’90s in Latin America was comparable in some respects to the experience of pre-revolutionary Russia in the early twentieth century. The destructive impact on Russia of the imperialist First World War and its horrors was paralleled in Latin America by neoliberalism and its horrors: greater hunger and poverty, an increasingly unequal distribution of wealth, unemployment, the destruction of nature, and the erosion of sovereignty.

July 27, 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- When Bolivia's President Evo Morales announced in May that his
government was allowing oil and gas drilling in national parks,
mainstream and progressive media outlets alike were quick to condemn his
supposed hypocrisy on environmental issues.

Writing for the Associated Press, Frank Bajak argued that although
Morales is known internationally for his outspoken campaigning on
climate change, at home he faces constant criticism from
conservationists “who say he puts extraction ahead of clean water and
forests”.

Bajak said this contradiction was a result of Morales’ strategy of
developing extractive industries as a means of cutting poverty,
regardless of the environmental cost.

April 17, 2015 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Policies that
expand “extractivism” in progressive Latin American countries bring up a host
of contradictions: How do the short-term benefits of financial gain from extraction
compare to its long-term destructiveness? What options are available for reducing
poverty without increasing mining, logging and GMO monocultures? Could the
climate change effects of extraction actually hurt the world’s poor more than
helping them? How can struggles against extractivism chart a path to economies
based on human need rather corporate profits?

April 6, 2015 -- Life on the Left, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with permission -- Up
to 90% of the electorate voted in Bolivia’s “subnational” elections
March 29 for governors, mayors and departmental assembly and municipal
council members throughout the country. These were the second such
elections to be held since the new constitution came into force in 2009,
the first being in 2010.

The problem is currently being faced in Greece with
SYRIZA, and will have to be faced in Spain with Podemos (if that party
wins the general elections in late 2015), as it was faced in the past,
in Venezuela with the election of Hugo Chávez as president in December
1998, in Bolivia with Evo Morales in 2005, in Ecuador with Rafael Correa
in December 2006, or several decades earlier with Salvador Allende in
Chile in 1970 |1|.

Today
we celebrate a decade of achievement of the Bolivarian Alliance for the
Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA). For 10 years ALBA has stood on the
world stage as a defender of peace, solidarity and popular sovereignty.

Before
ALBA, Cuba stood alone for many years against the U.S.-led empire. But
through ALBA, an alliance of countries, with wide influence and many
friends among governments and peoples, now challenges imperialism on a
range of issues. While representing only a few small and poor countries,
ALBA exercises great moral authority and carries weight in world
affairs. ALBA is the most effective international alliance based on
solidarity in modern history.

February 19,
2015 – Links International Journal of
Socialist Renewal -- The election of the radical left-wing SYRIZA party in
Greece and a possible victory of the similarly radical party Podemos in Spain
has raised the hopes of millions of people across Europe and the globe that we
can put an end to austerity-type policies, put in place policies that will
protect working people from the capitalist crisis and advance society to a new era of social justice
governments.

A Venezuelan government statement said: “Venezuela warmly
congratulates the Syriza coalition party and Alexis Tsipras for their
historic victory, wishing them success and complete solidarity and
support.”

Venezuela's foreign minister Elias Jaua tweeted: “The Greek
people, after a long and historic battle against neoliberalism, has
crowned itself a wonderful victory. Syriza is fresh air for Europe!”

On October 26 Brazilians re-elected Dilma Rousseff as president, ushering in a fourth consecutive Workers’ Party administration.

By Federic Fuentes

December 7, 2014 -- first published in TeleSUR English, submitted to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal by the author -- Since the start of the year, numerous newspapers have dedicated article after article to predictions of a looming demise of the so-called “Pink Tide”. The term is used to refer to the wave of left-of-centre governments elected to power in Latin America during recent years.

A number of these governments were up for re-election this year, and pollsters and commentators alike argued that for many, their time in government was up.

Instead, on October 26 Brazilians re-elected Dilma Rousseff as president, ushering in a fourth consecutive Workers’ Party administration. That same day, voters in neighboring Uruguay handed the incumbent Broad Front (FA) a majority in both houses of parliament, and FA candidate Tabare Vasquez went into the second round of the presidential elections as hot favorite after winning 49.5% of the vote in the first round (compared with 32% for his nearest rival).

November
21, 2014 – Links International Journal of
Socialist Renewal -- I have recently returned from three fascinating days
in Rome where I participated in a World Meeting of Popular Movements. This
event brought to the Vatican a throng of articulate delegates from among the
poor and excluded of the 21st Century, people fighting for land, for housing,
for work and for dignity. Pope Francis was a central force in creating this
gathering in Rome. Our meeting with him in the Old Synod Hall of the Basilica
was a high point.

The
meeting brought together 150 delegates. Thirty of them were Bishops from
various parts of the world whose ministries include strong accompaniment and
support for movements of the poor. The other 120 came from various popular
movements working on the thematic issues of the meeting – Terra, Labor, Domus. Men
and women fighting for land, work and housing were present from every continent.
In a statement from the organisers, the logic was clear.

October 31, 2014 -- Links international Journal of Socialist Renewal, a version of this article appeared first at TeleSUR English -- In recent years, a number of important discussions have emerged among and between environmentalists and solidarity activists. None has generated quite as much heat as the debate over extractive industries, particularly in South America.

This is perhaps unsurprising given what’s at stake: South America is home to some of the world’s largest and most important natural resource deposits. It is also a region dominated by progressive governments that have taken strong stances internationally in support of action on climate change, while facing criticism at home for their positions on extractive industries.